Vitali Vladimirovich Karamnov (russian: Виталий Владимирович Карамнов; born July 6, 1968) is a Russian retired professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. He played 92 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the St. Louis Blues from 1992 to 1993. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1986 to 2004, was mainly spent in European leagues. He played left wing and shot left-handed.

Biography

Karamnov began his playing career in his native

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. He played 6 years in the USSR before jumping to the NHL after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 3rd round, 62nd overall (two spots ahead of fellow Russian and Blues teammate

Vitali Prokhorov Vitali Vladimirovich Prokhorov (russian: Биталий Владимирович Прохоров); born December 25, 1966, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a retired professional hockey player who played briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the NHL. He ...

) in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who retire ...

. For the 1992–1993 season, Karamnov spent the majority of the year with the Blues minor league affiliate

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

while also playing 7 games with the Blues that season as well. For the 1993–1994 season Karamnov skated in 59 games and scored 21 points, both NHL career highs. The following season would be the last for Karamnov in the NHL, playing 15 games with Rivermen and 26 games with the Blues. Following his stint in the NHL Karamnov played in a number of different settings around the world. He played the 1995–1996 season in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, followed by 3 season in the DEL in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, a brief 5 game stint in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

during the 1999–2000 season, and 3 more seasons in Russia. Karamnov retired from hockey in 2003.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

* 1968 births Living people BSC Preussen Berlin players HC Dynamo Moscow players HC Spartak Moscow players HC Vityaz players Ice hockey people from Moscow JYP Jyväskylä players Krefeld Pinguine players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Peoria Rivermen (IHL) players Russian ice hockey left wingers St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Salavat Yulaev Ufa players Soviet ice hockey left wingers VHK Vsetín players {{Russia-icehockey-winger-stub